The riskiest part of the business is in meeting new people. I
always check them out through the people who have recommended them. I want to know how long you've known this person, and what he does for a living, and when the new person comes over for the first time, I sit and talk with him for a few minutes.Dealers with kids have a real problem. Kindergarten is the crucial year. Kids spill all the beans in kindergarten, everything, they tell all. If you're smoking a joint and a kid comes into the room, if you continue smoking, it won't bother the kid But if you act like something's funny, that kid's going to notice, that's for sure. With kids, I've found the less said around them, the better. A friend of mine tells her kids: "this is our means of income, and you have to treat this with respect. Just because you think your friend is cool does not mean that it's okay to tell your friend."
If somebody in the community gets busted, the level of paranoia goes way up. People get paranoid that they're being watched, or especially that their phone is tapped. There's so much I could worry about, like an old customer turning me in for any reason. But it's the new ones I worry about. At first I thought I would do business only with people I knew, and stop at a certain number. But that's just not practical. People move away, people stop buying from you, people stop smoking dope, people grow their own, and some people just stop showing up, and you never find out why.
We retail dealers are the most visible part of the dope chain, and we carry the highest risk. If I were a wholesaler, I might have six customers, all retailers. And that's all. And every week I'd make six phone calls and go over with my samples and take orders and deliver the stuff, and then collect the money. A very quiet business. Nobody ever comes to your house when you're a wholesaler. Wholesalers are usually former dealers who have moved up.
Pot dealers are a little like pirates, running around and bragging about their feats. They are performers, and they deserve everything they get. Some of these people claim they have no friends, that when they get ripped off, they have to question everybody. That's the worst part of the business, and that's the main reason I'm stopping as soon as I get the money to open a legitimate business.
I guess I'm luckier than some dealers, because I have many nonbusiness friendships. In addition, some of the relationships I have with fellow-dealers are close and trusting and above suspicion—even if I were to get ripped off. I don't think you can remain a dealer very long without forming some close ties with others in this business, which runs, by the way, on good will and trust. We can't take each other to court to uphold agreements, so we have to behave in an honorable fashion. Those few who don't soon find that they can't do business very long—or very successfully.
After the marijuana laws are lifted, there are hundreds of houses in every major city in which elaborate built-in hiding places will be revealed. It's like the old Prohibition days. Security is my major investment, economically as well as emotionally. And that's a major topic of conversation when dealers get together, after the state of the market. Locks, hiding places, policies, everything. Whom do you allow in your house? What's your policy on telephone calls? What kind of locks do you use? Do you have bars on your windows?
I'm worried about the police, but I'm much more worried about thieves. I'm defenseless against robbers. If they come in and know that I'm a dealer, I have no recourse. Both of us know that I can't go to the police, so I'm a sitting duck and I'll have to move. Dealers get robbed fairly often, and that's what the hiding places are all about. Of course you want to protect your stuff from the police, but that's secondary. If the police come in, it will probably be as the result of a tip-off from a customer. And all I can do about that is be very careful about meeting new ones. That first sale is the most dangerous point in the operation.